The Arctic

The Arctic is the region around the North Pole, most often defined as everything north of the Arctic Circle at 66°33′48.8″N, and at its heart it is an ocean largely surrounded by land.¹² For a traveler it comes down to a handful of places you can book: Svalbard, Greenland, Arctic Canada, Churchill on Hudson Bay, Kaktovik in Alaska and the North Pole itself. Almost all trips are expedition cruises in the northern summer. The 2027 voyages we have checked start at $3,250 for a berth in a shared cabin on a 6-day Svalbard round trip and climb past $60,000 for the Northwest Passage and the North Pole.⁵⁹⁴⁵ Polar bears live in five countries around the Arctic Ocean, and which one you pick decides your odds of seeing one.⁶

Where should you go in the Arctic?

Choose by what you want to see and how many days you have: Svalbard for wildlife on a one-week or two-week trip, Greenland for icebergs and Inuit towns, Arctic Canada for long voyages through the Northwest Passage, Churchill for the autumn gathering of polar bears, and the North Pole for the latitude itself. The fares below are the lowest we found on operators' own pages for 2027, per person, read on October 14 and 15, 2026.

Two more islands come up in searches. Jan Mayen, an isolated volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean, is a stop on some voyages to or from Svalbard, Norway, Iceland and Scotland, including Oceanwide's, Lindblad's, Atlas's and Aurora's.^3323320 Franz Josef Land is Russian, and no Western operator we have checked goes there in 2027. Poseidon Expeditions, which sailed to the islands from Longyearbyen in 2019, says it is "currently unable to market or operate" its icebreaker cruises "that travel in Russian territory".³⁴³⁵

What is the best place to visit in the Arctic?

For a first trip, Svalbard: most of the 2027 Arctic voyages we have checked sail there, so it has the widest spread of dates, ships and prices, and scheduled flights reach Longyearbyen from Oslo all year.⁷ Our picks by kind of traveler:

• One week and a tight budget: Svalbard. Oceanwide's 6-day A Taste of North Spitsbergen on Ortelius, from Longyearbyen on June 30 or July 5, 2027, is the cheapest Svalbard round trip we have found, at $3,250 for one berth in a shared four-person porthole cabin, with one such cabin left on each date and flights to Longyearbyen not included.⁵⁹ Its 8-day North Spitsbergen Explorer on June 1 costs $4,800 on the same basis.¹⁰ Cheaper per day is Oceanwide's one-way Arctic Ocean voyage from Aberdeen, Scotland, by way of Fair Isle and Jan Mayen to Longyearbyen, May 23 to June 1, 2027: $3,300 for a berth in a shared four-person porthole cabin, flights not included.³ HX's 11-day Circumnavigating Spitsbergen costs $9,306 with two sharing and includes economy flights from Oslo.¹² More in our Svalbard cruises guide.
• Icebergs and Inuit towns: Greenland. Intrepid's 7-day Disko Bay voyage to Ilulissat on June 21, 2027 starts at $8,876 per person sharing a porthole stateroom, shown discounted from $11,095 with no end date, and includes flights between Copenhagen and Kangerlussuaq.¹⁹ On the east coast, Oceanwide's 10-day voyage to Scoresby Sund leaves Akureyri, Iceland, on September 2, 2027, from $6,250 for a berth in a shared four-person cabin.¹⁶ See Greenland cruises.
• Polar bears above everything: Churchill in October or November. Frontiers North' 5-day Subarctic Discovery from Winnipeg costs CAD 8,927 per person with two sharing in 2027, flights to Churchill included, with dates open from October 11 to November 5.⁶¹ Natural Habitat Adventures' 6-day trip costs US$8,995, plus US$1,689 for the round-trip charter flights to Churchill.²⁸ See polar bear tours.
• A long voyage with history: the Northwest Passage. HX's 25-day crossing on August 8, 2027 costs $27,118 with two sharing (was $31,101), with an extra anniversary discount that applies only to bookings made by November 9, 2026, and includes flights from Seattle to Nome and from Nuuk to New York.²⁵³⁶ Lindblad's 24-day version is published from $63,500, but that cabin category was sold out when we checked; the cheapest open cabin was $86,680 per person.⁴³⁷ For part of the route in less time, Adventure Canada's 17-day voyage on Ocean Victory from Kangerlussuaq to Kugluktuk on August 25, 2027 starts at $13,297 per person with three sharing (was $18,995, 30% off until November 26, 2026), plus $2,750 for the charter flights from Toronto and to Yellowknife.⁶⁰ See Northwest Passage cruises.
• The top of the world: the North Pole. Ponant's 13-day round trip from Longyearbyen starts at $44,370 with two sharing.³¹ See North Pole cruises.

For a side-by-side of every line and ship, see our Arctic cruises guide.

How much does an Arctic cruise cost?

From $3,250 per person for a berth in a shared cabin on a 6-day Svalbard round trip to $67,730 for 18 days to the North Pole; the 2027 voyages we have checked that stay within Svalbard or within Greenland all start between $3,250 and $19,890.⁵⁹⁵⁵⁵ Dividing each fare by its days gives a fairer comparison:

Three things move the real price. First, flights: Oceanwide's Svalbard and Greenland fares start in Longyearbyen or Akureyri, while HX, Quark and Ponant build the flight to the ship into the fare.^1016125531 Second, offers with deadlines: HX's extra anniversary discount applies only to bookings made by November 9, 2026, and Silversea's $5,000 saving on its 7-day Svalbard voyage expires November 2, 2026.³⁶⁸ Third, small fees: every visitor to Svalbard pays a NOK 150 environmental fee, which airlines and cruise lines add to the ticket.³⁸ For the other end of the planet, compare our Antarctica trip cost guide.

What is the best month to go to the Arctic?

July and August for most cruises, because that is when the ice has pulled back from the most coastline. Oceanwide puts its chance of sailing all the way around Spitsbergen at about 30% in the first half of July, 70% in the second half, 90% in the first half of August and 95% in the second half, based on its voyages from 1992 to 2019.¹³ In East Greenland, Lindblad says sea ice typically lines the coast in June and the fjords often begin to open by July and August.¹⁵ Arctic sea ice is usually at its smallest in September and its largest in March.³⁹

Other months suit other goals:

• April to June brings spring voyages in Svalbard, such as Lindblad's from April 23 and Quark's from April 30, and the midnight sun: in Longyearbyen the sun stays above the horizon around the clock from April 19 to August 23, 2027.¹¹⁴⁰⁴¹
• Late August and September is when the operators schedule their northern lights voyages, such as Aurora Expeditions' Northern Lights Explorer from August 25 and Swan Hellenic's Expedition to Greenland, Land of Northern Lights, on September 1 and 8. The aurora shows on clear, dark nights.²⁰⁴²⁴³
• October and November is polar bear season in Churchill, when bears gather on the Hudson Bay coast at Cape Churchill to wait for the sea ice.⁴⁴²⁸

Can you go to the Arctic as a tourist?

Yes. Svalbard, Greenland, Arctic Canada and Churchill all have tourist voyages or tours on sale for 2027; the part of the Arctic that is effectively closed is Russia's. Each country sets its own rules:

• Svalbard (Norway) needs no visa of its own, but if you need a Schengen visa you need one to travel through mainland Norway, and the Governor advises a double-entry visa.⁴⁵ Since January 1, 2025, tourist landings in Svalbard's protected areas are allowed only at 43 mapped sites, ships there may carry no more than 200 passengers, and drones are banned in them.⁴⁶ Everyone in Svalbard must also keep at least 1,000 ft (300 m) from a polar bear, and 1,640 ft (500 m) from March 1 to June 30.⁵⁷ Protected areas cover about 65% of Svalbard's land and 84% of its territorial waters.⁴⁷
• Expedition lines in the Arctic have their own association, AECO, the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators; its full members include Oceanwide, Ponant, Quark, Aurora, Seabourn, Silversea and Swan Hellenic.⁴⁸ Where the law sets no distance, AECO's guidelines say to keep at least 160 ft (50 m) from a polar bear, never to bring a vessel longer than 33 ft (10 m) within 660 ft (200 m) of one, and never to follow a swimming bear. Local law comes first.⁴⁹
• Russia's Arctic is off the list for most Western travelers. The US State Department's advisory for Russia is "Level 4: Do Not Travel".⁵⁰ Atomflot, the Murmansk company that runs Russia's nuclear icebreakers, has been on the US sanctions list since May 2023, so Americans may not do business with it unless the US Treasury licenses it.⁵⁸⁵⁶ See our Franz Josef Land and North Pole pages.
• Kaktovik, Alaska, the only settlement in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, has had no polar bear boat tours since the federal government halted them in 2021; village leaders and the US Fish and Wildlife Service are discussing a return.³⁰

Where can you see polar bears in the Arctic?

Your best odds are in Churchill, Manitoba, in October and November, when the bears gather along Hudson Bay waiting for it to freeze.⁴⁴²⁸ Polar Bears International counts about 26,000 polar bears worldwide in 20 populations, spread across five countries: the US (Alaska), Canada, Russia, Greenland and Norway (Svalbard).⁵¹⁶ Here is how the places compare:

• Churchill: the town lists tundra vehicle tours, including Frontiers North's Tundra Buggy and Great White Bear Tours, and packaged trips from Lazy Bear Lodge and Churchill Wild.⁵² Even here Natural Habitat Adventures warns that "bear viewing is never predictable".²⁸ Read more on Frontiers North.
• Svalbard: about 3,000 bears live in the Svalbard and Barents Sea region, but only about 300 stay on Svalbard all year. Visit Svalbard says there are no polar bear safaris there and that the longer you stay, the better your chances of meeting its wildlife.¹⁴
• Greenland: bears prefer the north and east, so Visit Greenland rates a sighting "quite unlikely" for most visitors; the best chance is by ship to East Greenland or around Qaanaaq.²² Swan Hellenic's 13-day Deep Greenland voyage on August 20, 2027 calls at Qaanaaq, from $14,575 per person in an oceanview stateroom with two sharing, charter flights from Reykjavík included.¹⁷
• Alaska: bears gather outside Kaktovik every late summer to feed on whale remains left by hunters, but the boat tours are halted for now.³⁰

Our polar bear page covers the species, and polar bear tours compares the trips.

What is the Arctic Circle?

It is the line of latitude at 66°33′48.8″N; north of it, the sun stays above the horizon for more than 24 hours around the summer solstice and below it for more than 24 hours around the winter solstice.¹ The effect grows toward the Pole, which has six months of continuous daylight and six of night.¹² In Longyearbyen the sun does not rise at all from October 27, 2026 to February 15, 2027, and does not set from April 19 to August 23, 2027.⁴¹

Not every scientist uses the circle. Some draw the Arctic's edge at the tree line, which broadly follows the line where the average July temperature stays at or below 50°F (10°C).²

How cold is the Arctic?

It depends on where you are and when. On the coasts, summers are cool and cloudy, with average temperatures around 50°F (10°C); inland, some weather stations record summer temperatures of 86°F (30°C) or more, while parts of Siberia average below -40°F (-40°C) in January.² At the North Pole, NASA gives average temperatures of 32°F (0°C) in summer and -40°F (-40°C) in winter.⁵³ The open water between the floes helps warm the Arctic air, NASA explains, and the land around the Arctic Ocean slows the winds, letting warmer air from the south mix in.⁵³

What is the difference between the Arctic and Antarctica?

The Arctic is an ocean largely surrounded by land, and Antarctica is the reverse, land surrounded by ocean, with ice up to 3 miles (5 km) thick forming a high plateau.²⁵³ Height and stronger winds make the South Pole much colder, with average temperatures of -18°F (-28.2°C) in summer and -76°F (-60°C) in winter.⁵³ The seasons run opposite: Arctic sea ice is largest in March, Antarctic sea ice in September.³⁹ The wildlife does not overlap either. Polar bears live only in the five Arctic countries, while all penguin species are native to the Southern Hemisphere, so no single trip shows you both.⁶⁵⁴ For the south, start with our Antarctica and Antarctic Peninsula pages and the best time to visit Antarctica.